The present invention relates, in general, to gas-testing equipment and, in particular to a new and useful carbon monoxide detector.
Carbon monoxide (CO) is known to absorb infrared radiation. CO detectors have taken advantage of this phenomenon to determine the differences between infrared radiation absorption in a test cell containing a gas to be tested and a reference cell containing a fixed composition of gas, for example nitrogen. Since the background gas in the test and reference cells are different, inaccuracies may enter the detection operation.
The detection of carbon monoxide content is particularly important in flue gases generated in various industrial operations. One technique for detecting organic carbon as well as carbon monoxide in such industrial waste is disclosed in an article entitled "Continuous Method for Sampling Stack Gases for Total Carbon", G. G. Karels and R. C. Vincent, Environmental Science and Technology, Am. Chem. Soc., 1978, Vol. 12. This reference mentions various techniques for detecting carbon monoxide including the use of infrared analysis.